St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won 10 World Series championships, tops in the National League and second in MLB only to the American League's New York Yankees, who have 27. The Cardinals were founded in the American Association in 1882 as the St. Louis Brown Stockings, taking the name from an earlier National League team. They joined the National League in 1892 and have been known as the Cardinals since 1900. The Cardinals began playing in the current Busch Stadium in 2006, and were the first team since the Yankees in 1923 to win the World Series in their first season in a new ballpark (the Yankees would repeat the feat in 2009 at the new Yankee Stadium). The Cardinals have a long standing rivalry with the Chicago Cubs as well as a newer rivalry with the Houston Astros. History 1880s–1930s The Cardinals were founded in as a member of the American Association called the St. Louis Brown Stockings. The club quickly achieved success, winning four AA pennants in a row in 1885–1888. St. Louis played in an early version of the World Series, the first two times against the National League's Chicago White Stockings, now named the Chicago Cubs. The 1885 series ended in dispute, but St. Louis won the 1886 series outright, beginning a St. Louis-Chicago rivalry that continues today. The American Association went bankrupt in 1892, and the Browns moved to the National League, leaving much of their success behind for the next three decades. The club changed its name to the "Perfectos" in 1899, before adopting the "Cardinals" name in 1900. won two Triple Crowns with the Cardinals.]] From 1902–1954, an American League Team, the St. Louis Browns, also played in St. Louis. The Browns moved to Baltimore in 1954 and became the Baltimore Orioles. The Cardinals' fortunes in the National League began to improve in 1920, when Sam Breadon bought the club and named Branch Rickey his general manager. Rickey immediately moved the Cardinals to Sportsman's Park to become tenants of their American League rivals, the St. Louis Browns, and sold the Cardinals' ballpark. Rickey used the money from the sale to invest in and pioneer the minor league farm system, which produced many great players and led to new success for the Cardinals. Led by Rogers Hornsby, who won the Triple Crown in both 1922 and 1925, the Cardinals improved drastically during the 1920s. They won their first National League pennant in 1926 and then defeated the favored New York Yankees in seven games to win the World Series. In 1927, now led by Frankie Frisch, the Cardinals fell just short, before claiming another pennant in 1928. The Yankees avenged their 1926 loss, however, by sweeping the Cardinals in four games in the 1928 World Series. The Cardinals kept winning in the next decade, claiming back-to-back pennants in 1930 and 1931. The Cardinals matched up with the Philadelphia Athletics in both World Series, losing in 1930 but returning to win the 1931 series. In 1934 the team, nicknamed the "Gashouse Gang" for their shabby appearance and rough tactics, again won the pennant and then the World Series over the Detroit Tigers. Dizzy Dean won 30 games that season, the last National League pitcher to reach that mark. Joe Medwick won the Triple Crown in 1937, the last National League hitter to achieve the feat, but the Cardinals failed to win a pennant in the second half of the decade. 1940s–1970s Outfielder Stan "the Man" Musial joined the Cardinals in 1941. Musial spent 22 years in a Cardinals uniform and won three NL MVP Awards. Led by Musial, the Cardinals dominated the National League during World War II, winning three straight pennants from 1942–1944. The 1942 "St. Louis Swifties" won a franchise record 105 games and defeated the Yankees in the World Series. The team then posted 105 wins in both 1943 and 1944. The Cardinals fell to the Yankees in the 1943 World Series rematch. The 1944 World Series was particularly memorable, as the Cardinals met their crosstown rivals, the St. Louis Browns, in the "Streetcar Series," with the Cardinals prevailing for their fifth title. In 1946 the Cardinals finished the season tied with the Brooklyn Dodgers, but claimed the pennant in a 3-game playoff series. The Cardinals then won the World Series in 7 games against the Boston Red Sox. In the bottom of the 8th inning in Game 7, with the score tied at 3–3, Enos Slaughter scored on a "Mad Dash" from first on a double to left-center to win the game and the series. Rickey had left the Cardinals to become general manager of the Dodgers in 1942, and after their 1946 win, the Cardinals slid back to the middle of the National League. In 1953 the Anheuser-Busch brewery bought the Cardinals, and August "Gussie" Busch became team president. He soon purchased Sportsman's Park from St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck, renovated the ballpark, and renamed it Busch Stadium. The Browns, who had not been as successful or popular as the Cardinals in three decades, realized they could not compete with the deep pockets of the brewery. After the 1953 season the Browns left St. Louis to become the Baltimore Orioles, and the Cardinals were left as the only major league team in town. The Cardinals achieved another period of success in the 1960s with the help of a trade and a dominating pitcher. In 1964 the Cardinals traded pitcher Ernie Broglio and two other players to the rival Cubs for outfielder Lou Brock and two other players. The trade, since nicknamed "Brock for Broglio," has become definitive of a trade which in retrospect is ridiculously lopsided. The Cardinals would prove to be on the good side of the trade, as Brock would successfully replace Musial, who had retired at the end of 1963, in left field. Behind Brock and pitcher Bob Gibson, who won 20 games for the first time, the Cardinals won the 1964 World Series over the Yankees, with Gibson named series MVP. In 1966 the Cardinals moved to the new Busch Memorial Stadium, where they hosted the MLB All-Star Game that summer. The next year the team reached and won the 1967 World Series over the Red Sox. Gibson pitched three complete-game wins, allowing only three earned runs, and was named World Series MVP for the second time. In 1968, nicknamed the "Year of the Pitcher" for the domination of pitching over hitting throughout the majors, the Cardinals' Bob Gibson proved to be the most dominant pitcher of all. Gibson's earned run average of 1.12 is a live-ball era record, and he won both the NL Cy Young Award and the NL MVP Award. Behind Gibson's season the Cardinals reached the 1968 World Series against the Detroit Tigers. Gibson would pitch another three complete games and set a World Series record with 35 strikeouts, including a single-game record 17 in Game 1. However, a key error by Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood in Game 7 allowed the Tigers to win the series. Gibson would win a second Cy Young Award in 1970, and Joe Torre won the NL MVP Award in 1971, but the Cardinals would fail to win a pennant during the 1970s. 1980–1989 The Cardinals returned to their winning ways in 1981, but were left out of the playoffs in the strike-affected season; despite posting the best overall record in the NL East, they finished in second place in each half of the split season. But just like in 1964, a trade would propel the Cardinals upward. Before the 1982 season began the Cardinals acquired shortstop Ozzie Smith from the San Diego Padres via a trade in exchange for Garry Templeton. With Smith, and playing a form of baseball nicknamed Whiteyball after manager Whitey Herzog, the Cardinals won the 1982 World Series over the Milwaukee Brewers. Herzog's Cardinals then reached the 1985 World Series against the Kansas City Royals. The series was nicknamed the "I-70 Series" after the highway that connects the two in-state rivals. The Royals won in seven games, but the series is most remembered by Cardinals fans for a blown call by umpire Don Denkinger in Game 6. The Cardinals would also reach the 1987 World Series, losing to the Minnesota Twins in seven games. 1990–1999 broke the single-season home run record while playing with St. Louis in 1998.]] The Cardinals hit another period of little success in the early 1990s. Joe Torre replaced Herzog as manager, but failed to make the playoffs despite several winning seasons. Before the 1996 season the Cardinals were purchased by new owners led by William DeWitt, Jr. and hired Tony La Russa away from the Oakland Athletics. The team won the NL Central that season and defeated the Padres in the NLDS before falling to the Atlanta Braves in 7 games the NLCS. In 1998, the Cardinals were the focus of the baseball world as slugging first baseman Mark McGwire broke the single season home run record by hitting 70 home runs. McGwire's epic pursuit of Roger Maris' record along with the Cubs' Sammy Sosa helped to re-popularize baseball after the 1994 strike. 2000–present , ]] The new millennium brought new success. The Cardinals, led primarily by Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and a decent pitching roster, won the NL Central in six of seven years. The Cardinals reached the playoffs in , , and , then missed in . In , the Cardinals won 105 games, the best record in baseball, then defeated the Dodgers in the NLDS and the Houston Astros in a seven-game NLCS to reach the 2004 World Series against the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox swept the Cards at Busch Stadium, and because the American League had home field advantage for having won the All-Star Game, Busch Stadium was where the Curse of the Bambino died. The Cardinals lost only 4 times in a shutout in the regular season, but were shut out 3 times in the postseason, including 1 shutout loss every series in the playoffs (4–0 to the Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLDS, 3–0 to the Astros in Game 5 of the NLCS, and 3–0 to the Red Sox in Game 4 of the World Series). The Cardinals won 100 games and another Central Division title in , but lost in an NLCS rematch to the Astros. In , the Cardinals moved to the new Busch Stadium. Despite winning only 83 games during the season, the Cardinals defeated the San Diego Padres in the NLDS and the New York Mets in a seven game NLCS. In the 2006 World Series, the Cardinals faced the heavily-favored Detroit Tigers, but won in five games for the franchise's tenth World Series title. On August 22, 2009, they defeated the San Diego Padres for the 10,000th win in franchise history, becoming only the fourth team to accomplish the feat, after the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cardinals became the first Major League Baseball club to clinch a division title in 2009, beating the Colorado Rockies on September 26. The Cardinals were considered strong contenders for the league pennant because of their strong starting pitching and offense, but were swept in three games by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best-of-five National League Division Series, despite having beaten the Dodgers five of seven times in the regular season. The 2009 season also saw three Cardinal players lead the National League in three categories. Pujols's 47 home runs was tops in the majors, pitcher Adam Wainwright's 19 wins was the most in the National League (and tied for most in the majors with three American League pitchers), and Chris Carpenter's ERA of 2.24 was the best in the National League. Pujols won the MVP award, while Carpenter and Wainwright finished 2nd and 3rd in Cy Young Award voting. Carpenter was also named the National League's Comeback Player of the Year. The 2000s were not all happiness and light. On June 18, 2002, long-time Cardinals radio broadcaster Jack Buck died. Four days later, Cardinals starting pitcher Darryl Kile died in his sleep, apparently of heart failure, before a game in Chicago against the Cubs. On April 29, 2007, also during a series with the Cubs, Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock, 29, was killed in a car accident while driving drunk when his vehicle collided with a stopped tow truck that was aiding a disabled motorist on Interstate 64, not far from Busch Stadium. Ballpark has been the Cardinals home since 2006]] The Cardinals play their home games at Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis. Busch Stadium, also called Busch III, opened for the 2006 season at a cost of $346 millionOfficial Ballpark Factsheet which states the costs of the stadium and can hold 46,861 people."Cardinals make 65,000 additional tickets available" St. Louis Cardinals Press Release, April 28, 2006. The Cardinals finished their inaugural season in the new Busch Stadium by winning the 2006 World Series, becoming the first team since the 1923 New York Yankees to win the World Series in their first season in a new ballpark. The ballpark has numerous statues of former Cardinal players who are hall of fame inductees outside, including the iconic statue of Stan Musial in front of the third base entrance. Busch Stadium is the Cardinals' fourth home ballpark and the third to be named Busch Stadium. The Cardinals' original home ballpark was Sportsman's Park from 1882–1892 when they were playing in the American Association and known as the Browns. To begin the 1893 season, the Cardinals moved to a new ballpark five-blocks to the northwest of Sportsman's Park originally called New Sportsman's Park but more commonly remembered as Robison Field which served as their home from 1893–1920. Midway through the 1920 season the Cardinals abandoned Robison Field and returned to the original Sportsman's Park and became tenants of their American League rivals, the St. Louis Browns. In 1953, the Cardinals were purchased by the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and the new owner subsequently purchased Sportsman's Park from the Browns and renamed it Busch Stadium, becoming Busch I. The Browns then left St. Louis for Baltimore after the season. The Cardinals moved to Busch Memorial Stadium, or Busch II, in downtown St. Louis during the 1966 season and played there until 2005. It was built as the multi-purpose home of both the baseball Cardinals and the St. Louis football Cardinals, now the Arizona Cardinals. The current Busch Stadium was constructed immediately south of and partly on top of the site of Busch Memorial Stadium. The Cardinals hold spring training at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, FL. They share the complex, which opened in 1998, with the Florida Marlins. Before moving to Jupiter, the Cardinals hosted spring training at Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg, FL from 1937–1997. Logos and uniforms The Cardinals have had few logos throughout their history, although those logos have evolved over time. The first logo associated with the Cardinals was an interlocking "SL" that appeared on the team's caps and or sleeves as early as 1900. Those early uniforms usually featured the name "St. Louis" on white home and gray road uniforms which both had cardinal red accents. In 1920 the "SL" largely disappeared from the team's uniforms, and for the next 20 years the team wore caps that were white with red striping and a red bill. In 1922, the Cardinals wore uniforms for the first time that featured two cardinal birds perched on a baseball bat over the name "Cardinals" with the letter "C" of the word hooked over the bat. This logo, colloquially referred to as the "birds on the bat," originally had the birds perched on a black bat and "Cardinals" in printed letters. An alternate version of this logo with "St. Louis" replacing "Cardinals" appeared in 1930 and was the primary logo in 1931 and 1932 before "Cardinals" returned. In 1940 the now-familiar "StL" logo was introduced on the team's caps. The interlocking "StL" has undergone several slight modifications over the years but has appeared on the team's caps every year since. The first appearance of the "StL" in 1940 coincided with the introduction of navy blue as a uniform color. From 1940 until 1955 the team wore navy blue caps with red bills and a red interlocking "StL" while the jerseys featured both cardinal red and navy blue accents. In 1951 the "birds on the bat" logo was changed to feature a yellow baseball bat. In 1956 the Cardinals changed their caps to entirely navy with a red "StL," removing the red bill. Also, for that one season, the Cardinals wore a script "Cardinals" wordmark on the their uniforms without the "birds on the bat." However, an updated version of the "birds on the bat" logo would return in 1957 with the word "Cardinals" now written in cursive beneath the bat. In 1962, the Cardinals were the first National League team to display players' names on the back of their jerseys. In 1964 the Cardinals changed their caps to be all red with a white interlocking "StL." In 1967, the birds on the bat emblem on the jersey was again tweaked, making the birds more realistic and changing the position of their tails relative to the bat. This version would remain on all Cardinals game jerseys through 1997. In 1971, following the trend in baseball at the time, the Cardinals replaced their more traditional flannel front-button shirts and pants with belts with new pullover knit jerseys and elastic waist pants. Yet another trend in baseball led the Cardinals to change their road uniforms from gray to light blue from 1976–1984. In 1992 the Cardinals returned to wearing more traditional button-down shirts and pants with belts. That same year they also began wearing an all-navy cap with a red "StL" on the road only while wearing the same red and white cap at home games. In 1998 the "birds on the bat" was updated for the first time in 30 years with more detailed birds and bolder letters. In 1998 the Cardinals also introduced a cap featuring a single cardinal bird perched on a bat, which they wear only on Sunday home games. The new birds on the bat design was tweaked the very next year, with yellow beaks and white eyes replacing the red beaks and yellow eyes of the 1998 version. Uniform numbers also returned to the front of the jerseys in 1999 after a two year absence. Over the years the Cardinals have also used other marketing logos that never appeared on uniforms that showed anthropomorphized cardinals in a pitching stance, swinging a baseball bat, or wearing a baseball cap. Players Individual achievements and awards *'Darryl Kile Award:' Two awards are presented each year, one to a St. Louis Cardinal and one to a Houston Astro, each of whom exemplifies Kile's virtues of being "a good teammate, a great friend, a fine father and a humble man." The winner is selected by each local chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.Darryl Kile Award. Baseball Almanac. Retrieved 2010-07-02. See: St. Louis Cardinals award winners and league leaders#Darryl Kile Award. * No-hitters: Cardinal pitchers have thrown ten no-hitters: Ted Breitenstein (1891), Jesse Haines (1924), Paul Dean (1934), Lon Warneke (1941), Ray Washburn (1968), Bob Gibson (1971), Bob Forsch (two, in 1978 and 1983), Jose Jimenez (1999), and Bud Smith (2001). The Cardinals have never been involved in a perfect game, win or lose. *'Cy-Young Awards:' Two Cardinal pitchers have won Cy Young Awards: Bob Gibson in 1968 and 1970, and Chris Carpenter in 2005.St. Louis Cardinals award winners and league leaders * MVP Awards: 16 different Cardinal players have won a total of 20 Most Valuable Player awards, the most recent being Albert Pujols in 2009. Bob Gibson won both the Cy Young Award and the MVP award in 1968. The Cardinals are second only to the New York Yankees in Most Valuable Player awards won (22).NL MVP Awards by team *'Rookie of the Year:' Six Cardinals have won the Rookie of the Year award: Wally Moon in 1954, Bill Virdon in 1955, Bake McBride in 1974, Vince Coleman in 1985, Todd Worrell in 1986, and Albert Pujols in 2001. *'Hitting for the cycle:' 20 Cardinal players have hit for the cycle, the most recent being Mark Grudzielanek in 2005.St. Louis Cardinals *'Triple Crown:' Four of the sixteen Triple Crown of hitting in the major leagues (including three of only six in the National League) were by Cardinals. Tip O'Neill won the American Association Triple Crown in 1887. Rogers Hornsby became the only two-time Triple Crown winner in NL history when he did it in 1922 and 1925 (Ted Williams won two AL Triple Crowns). Joe Medwick's Triple Crown in 1937 is the last in the history of the National League.Triple Crown Winners – Baseball-Reference.com Hornsby's 1925 numbers led the entire major leagues, making him one of only five players to have won this expanded Triple Crown. *'Home runs and RBI in a game:' Jim Bottomley drove in 12 runs for the Cardinals against Brooklyn on Sept. 16, 1924, an all-time MLB single-game record that still stands.RBI recordsBox score for Bottomley Another Cardinal, Mark Whiten, tied that record on Sept. 7, 1993, and in the process tied another MLB single-game record by hitting four home runs in a game.Home run recordsBox score *'2 Grand Slams in a single inning:' Fernando Tatis is the only player in Major League history to hit two Grand Slam Home Runs in the same inning, on April 23, 1999 vs. Chan Ho Park of the Dodgers.Baseball Almanac Hall of Famers Ford C. Frick Award recipients Names in bold received the award based on their work as Cardinals broadcasters. *'Jack Buck' (1954–59, 1961–2001) *Harry Caray (1945–69) *Joe Garagiola (1955–62)* *Milo Hamilton (1954) *Bob Uecker** * Played and broadcast for the Cardinals ** Played but did not broadcast for the Cardinals Retired numbers When Rogers Hornsby was honored in 1937, "SL" was used in place of a number as he played in an era without numbers. Jackie Robinson's number 42 was retired throughout baseball in 1997. The Cardinals 'retired' the number 42 a second time in Sept. 2006 as Bruce Sutter had been elected to the Hall of Fame earlier in the year. Cardinal stockholders honored Busch with the number 85 on his 85th birthday, in 1984. Also, while not officially retired, the number 25 of Mark McGwire (1B, 1997–2001) was not reissued following his retirement and McGwire has resumed wearing it as the Cardinals hitting coach; the number 51 of Willie McGee (OF 1982–1990, 1996–1999) has not been reissued since late in the 2001 season; and the number 57 of Darryl Kile (P, 2000–02) has not been reissued since his death in the middle of the 2002 season. (Kile is honored with a small circular logo bearing his initials and number on the wall of the Cardinal bullpen, as is deceased pitcher Josh Hancock. Hancock's number 32 also has not been reissued since his death in early 2007). The team also honored longtime radio commentator Jack Buck by placing a drawing of a microphone on the wall with the retired numbers. The Cardinals have retired the second-most numbers in baseball with 11, behind only the New York Yankees' 16. Minor league affiliations Radio and television In St. Louis, Cardinals games on radio can be heard over KMOX News/Radio 1120 AM. Mike Shannon and John Rooney alternate as play-by-play announcers. KMOX feeds the games to a network of 115 stations, covering all or portions of Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. 2011 marks the Cardinals' return to KMOX, following five seasons on KTRS-AM. Prior to 2006, the Cardinals and KMOX had enjoyed a partnership that spanned over seven decades. But the relationship ended after the 2005 season when CBS Radio, KMOX's parent company, and the Cardinals failed to reach terms on a new rights agreement, resulting in the team leaving the 50,000-watt clear-channel station in favor of becoming part-owners of 5,000-watt KTRS. On television, Fox Sports Midwest (branded as '''FS'CARDINALS'' during games) starting in 2011 airs all games not on national television. However, KSDK whom carried local tv games from 2007–2010, will continue to air their weekly magazine show Cardinal Nation. Dan McLaughlin and Al Hrabosky are the official announcers on FS Midwest, with Jimmy "the Cat" Hayes as a dugout reporter. Joe Buck (son of legendary Cardinals announcer Jack Buck) had previously teamed with Hrabosky but now is the lead play-by-play caller for Fox Major League Baseball and National Football League broadcasts. Former MLB and Cardinal pitcher Rick Horton also serves as a substitute announcer on both television and radio if a regular is ill or on assignment. All telecasts on FS Midwest are in HDTV Category:National League Category:NL Central Category:Teams